Contents

Character Creation

Campaign Traits

Debt

Play

Experience Points

Experience points are not given for killing monsters, but for achieving goals (‘figure out who’s behind the attack’, ‘find the artifact’, personal goals based on a PC’s backstory, etc) by any means. The goals may or may not be obvious in advance, depending on what information the PCs have available to them.

Fate Points

Fate points allow PCs to cheat fate at times.

Using Fate Points

One fate point can be spent to:

Reroll a d20 roll before the DM states the outcome of the roll

Take 20 on a skill check one cannot normally take 20 on, which still needs the extended time required by taking 20

Two fate points can be spent to:

Reroll a d20 roll after the DM states the outcome of the roll

Force an enemy to reroll a d20 roll

Three fate points can be spent to:

Cheat death, ending up at negative hit points and stable instead of dead

Gaining Fate Points

All PCs begin play with 1 fate point. An additional fate point is earned each time the PC:

Levels up

Completes a major plot arc or otherwise significantly advances the story (specified in the module)

Completes or resolves a major plot point from their backstory (no more than 1-2 points can be earned this way over the course of the PC’s life)

PCs do not lose fate points if they die and are resurrected.

NPCs and Fate Points

Most NPCs do not have fate points. However, important individuals may have 1–3 fate points. They use their fate points the same way PCs do, except they can NOT force a PC to reroll or cheat death.

Skills

We will be using the Pathfinder skill system, but with a slightly different list of skills and a few changes to specific skills.

Passive and Active Skill Checks

Passive skill checks are used to determine if characters notice something they are not actively looking for or know something they are not actively trying to remember (i.e. the DM gives the player information without the player asking). A passive skill check is the same as taking 10 on the skill and can only be used in situations where taking 10 would be allowed. Skills that use passive checks include Intuition, Knowledge, Perception, and Search.

All skills also use active checks, where the player decides they want to use the skill and rolls, takes 10, or takes 20.

Determining New Class Skills

If a class was proficient in one of these skills, the new, condensed skill is a class skill for that class. For example, Bluff and Disguise have been combined into Deception. Bluff is a class skill for sorcerers (while Disguise is not), so Deception is a class skill for sorcerers, who are now able to disguise themselves as well.

Skill List

This skill list is written primarily with 3.5 skills in the “was” column, simply because 3.5 had less consolidated skills, making it easier for me to explain what went where when I broke up a Pathfinder skill.